


Grooming

by TheTVJunkie



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: F/M, UST, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 20:28:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14723058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTVJunkie/pseuds/TheTVJunkie
Summary: What exactly entails "grooming"? After her little talk with Emperor!Georgiou Prime!Michael Burnham is desperate to get answers that no longer leave space for suggestive remarks. Answers that only Mirror!Lorca can give.Set before Mirror!Lorca was killed and Prime!Michael still in the Emperor's good graces.





	Grooming

**A/N:** This little one-shot was written before "Star Trek Discovery" blew up in our face and presented us with Mirror!Lorca's untimely demise. Before that there have been contentious debates on the internet whether the term "grooming" (S01 E12 "Vaulting Ambition") simply meant Lorca actually raisingPrime!Michael Burnham like a dad would or...if there had been some naughty benefits to their relationship as well. ;) Here's my try on Michael getting some answers from Lorca while they are in the Mirror Universe.

* * *

 

The doors of her decadently spacious quarters opened with a swish, snapping Michael out of her troubled train of thought. Saluting obediently, the two guards let go of the prisoner she had requested to be brought to her without further ado.

"I'll take it from here," she informed them in that fake dismissive tone of voice she had increasingly grown to hate over the course of her slipping into her mirror universe counterpart's mindset.

"Come in," she gestured for a pretty knackered looking Lorca to enter the room. "I'm glad to see you have been granted the benefits I ordered for you to receive."

 _Benefits._ That term was made a mockery of; it solely consisted of a very simple set of clean but simple clothes and the "generous" permission to use one of the sonic showers. The Captain, though, still looked awful, all those hours and endless hours he had to endure in the agonizing booth were clearly taking its toll on the grumpy man's constitution.

Lorca snorted, hungrily eyeing that tray of food that sat on the nearby low table. "A rare treat for a convicted rebel and scheming traitor indeed," Lorca said sardonically as he lumped into the settee, reaching for something that looked like jellyfish and took a good bite. "You know," he continued when Burnham sat down next to him, "I bet those imbeciles are racking their brains over what I could have possibly done to be in your good graces!" he gloated and for a split second all the frustration and pain seemed to melt away from his angular features.

Michael inwardly cringed at his unfortunate choice of words. That delicate piece of information on her dubious past with Captain Lorca, which Emperor Georgiou had provided her with only hours ago, would not be easy to bring up. Amongst other pressing matters, that is.

"I told the guards to bring you here for interrogation," Michael stated with a stern face, "And I mean it. I do need some answers, Sir."

Lorca paused, feigning ignorance. "Answers on what?" He replied evasively before nonchalantly going back to eating.

"Answers on why you lied to me. Why you lied to all of us on the "Discovery".

Now Michael had Lorca's full attention. "About what, pray tell, did I lie about to you?"

Burnham inhaled sharply. "It's not so much about what you said, it is rather what you not said,"

Lorca cleverly played dumb. "Not telling things is not lying," he replied defensively. "But go on, enlighten me about what I did not tell you."

That said, he sat back and folded his arms before his chest, a strategically well placed pose that aimed to cow Burnham.

But to no avail.

Michael straightened her back, inhaling sharply. "Fine. It was brought to my attention that," she blinked and stopped, trying to rephrase her question. "Emperor Georgiou told me that we...I mean my counterpart and you had known each other for quite some a while in this universe."

"True," Lorca replied, "I don't see why you're obviously upset about that random fact. You, or rather her, were like a daughter to me,"

"No, it is not that," Michael half-agreed reluctantly, her mouth turning dry before she was cut short.

"Well," Now Lorca allowed himself a smirk. "Most of the time."

Michael's eyes darted up at this to meet his, her pupils dilating. "She said you were _grooming_ the other me." Despite the fact that Michael was aware that she was definitely not much like her mirror universe duplicate, she felt sort of connected; like to a twin-sister. Her mind was reeling, trying to comprehend the new perspective regarding Lorca. Was she repulsed? Shocked? Jealous? Disappointed he did not approach her as well? Would she be disgusted if he did? Maybe she'd even be hurt if he did now, because it would always leave her wondering if she was just a surrogate and nothing more? 

"Yes," he acknowledged in a confusingly soft voice. "I _did_ groom the other you. And she never had any reason to complain about the ministrations I bestowed on her."

"So Georgiou's provocative allusion that "our" relationship went beyond what father and daughter should ever share was not a trick to turn _me_ against you?" Burnham pressed, undecided whether to validate the latest suggestive innuendo or not.

An oppressive silence hit Michael while she desperately tried to wrap her mind around the severity of this whole situation and just how much this shift in dynamics might affect her.

"I'm afraid not," Lorca conceded unceremoniously. "For once that bitch did not lie through her teeth."

"That is illogical," Michael stated, her Vulcan upbringing kicking in to save her from human emotions and prevent her from trembling. "You practically adopted me." Burnham's resolve weakened, stirring an unwanted sob. "I don't know what to think anymore."

She flinched, but to no avail, when Lorca carefully covered her hand with his in a reassuring fashion.

"What is this," Michael asked, somewhat bitterly. "The touch of a father? Or that of a lover?"

"Now that," Lorca whispered genuinely, "I leave entirely up to you."


End file.
